(WWI 5) [World War I] Collection Nu
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Military Collection State Archives of North Carolina North Carolina School Wartime Materials (WWI 5) [World War I] Collection Number: WWI 5 Title: North Carolina School Wartime Materials Dates: 1915-1921 Creator North Carolina Historical Commission, Fred A. Olds, Robert B. House; and various others Abstract The North Carolina School Wartime Materials collection is composed of items collected by the North Carolina Historical Commission, and two of its primary war materials collectors, Fred A. Olds, and Robert B. House, highlighting life during World War I at colleges, universities, and other academic institutions throughout North Carolina. The collection holds various newspaper articles, letters, lists, photographs, booklets, and published materials documenting the different ways in which North Carolina’s state educational facilities, private educational institutions, and the education profession adapted to the rapid demands of the war effort. The collection documents Students’ Army Training Corps and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on several college and university campuses, as well as showing groups of North Carolina college students training for military service at sites outside of North Carolina. The collection also documents the role of women in educational institutions during the war. Physical Description: Approximately 4.8 linear feet Language(s): English Repository State Archives of North Carolina, 4614 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614 Restrictions on Access: There are no restrictions on accessing this collection. Restrictions on Use: There are no restrictions on use of this collection. 1 Preferred Citation [Item name or title], [Box Numbers], [Folder Numbers], North Carolina School Wartime Materials, WWI 5, WWI Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C. Acquisition The North Carolina School Wartime Materials collection was acquired in multiple parts by Fred A. Olds and Robert B. House from 1917 to 1921. As war records collectors for the North Carolina Historical Commission, Olds and House were charged with obtaining documents, records, and visual materials related to North Carolina’s wartime efforts. Due to difficulties collecting wartime records from organizations and institutions, Olds and House signed up for various North Carolina educational institutions’ mailing lists, for such publications as school newsletters; and coordinated with various school officials to collect the remaining records in this collection. In their collection efforts, they received from certain North Carolina schools and educational associations’ publications, correspondence, and photographs related to campus and students involved in the war effort. In the 1918-1920 North Carolina Historical Commission Biennial Report published in 1920, the Historical Commission noted that, “About 3,000 pieces, [of material from educational institutions] 1917-1920, miscellaneous data, collected by the Collector of War Records [Fred A. Olds].” The report also notes the acquisition of a photograph titled “Wake Forest students at Plattsburg in 1918” (see Box 3, Folder 7). All of the materials in this collection were acquired or collected as part of the North Carolina Historical Commission’s on-going World War historic materials collection project, which was authorized by Sections 3 and 4 of Chapter 144 of the North Carolina Public Laws and Resolutions in 1919. Related Material North Carolina Council of Defense Records, WWI 1, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina County War Records, WWI 2, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C. Processing Information The collection was divided into three series, and grouped within those series alphabetically by the name of the college or university. Within these groups, the folders were arranged by material, and ordered based on relative importance and uniqueness of the items. Occasionally, the folder order was changed due to preservation concerns or issues with some of the materials. The materials in this collection were originally processed in the 1960s by the North Carolina Department of Archives and History as WWI Papers, Miscellaneous series: Colleges and Schools. 2 The names of the educational institutions as written on the original folders have been largely retained. However, in some cases, institutions’ names were changed on folder titles to reflect the names of the institutions by the end of the war, as documented by the last documents containing those names within this collection. Although many of these institutions have since changed their names, the new names of schools are noted in the Historical Note of this finding aid. Pieces of paper attached to photographs, which contained information about the photographs’ subject matter and dates, were removed and photocopied on acid-free bond paper. This bond paper was placed in the back of the acid-free archival sleeve with the photographs. The single oversized photograph—originally stored in a regular legal-size folder in the collection—has been relocated to Box 5 [Oversized Materials], and Oversized Folders 1-2 (stored in the Military Collection Oversized Map Case). Processed by: J. Cameron Crawford; Matthew M. Peek, July-August 2015 Arrangement The collection is grouped into four series and two subseries: Series I: State-Supported Schools Series II: Private Schools Series III: General Education Materials Subseries III A: North Carolina Subseries III B: National and States Series IV: Oversized Materials Historical Note The North Carolina Historical Commission (the precursor of the State Archives of North Carolina) recognized at the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War I the importance for North Caroling to begin an effort of collecting materials which documented the role taken by North Carolina soldiers and civilians in the war. In cooperation with the North Carolina Council of Defense, a special history committee, called the “Historical Preservation” committee, was appointed by the Council of Defense. The Historical Preservation committee consisted of the North Carolina Historical Commission Secretary Robert Digges Wimberly (or R. D. W.) Connor, as chairman; Haywood Parker of Asheville, North Carolina; Ms. Adelaide Fries of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Paul W. Schenck of Greensboro, North Carolina; Edgecombe County-native George Gordon Battle, who was one of the leading lawyers in New York City at the outbreak of WWI; Ms. Lida T. Rodman; and J. G. deR. Hamilton of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Council of Defense Historical Preservation committee’s mission was to collect for permanent preservation the war records of the state of North Carolina. The term “war records” was given the widest possible interpretation, so as to include all materials that illustrate the state 3 of mind of the citizens of North Carolina toward World War I; the effect of the war on social, educational, economic, agricultural, political and religious conditions; and the personal achievements, sacrifices, and services of North Carolina individuals in the war. Efforts were made by the North Carolina Historical Commission to secure the cooperation of such organizations as the State and County Councils of Defense; the State and County Fuel Administrations; the State and County Food Administrations; the American Red Cross; and other organizations engaged in work connected with the World War I preparedness and support efforts of the United States. The Historical Preservation committee and the North Carolina Historical Commission urged these institutions, organizations, and members of the public to preserve carefully their records, and ultimately deposit them with the North Carolina Historical Commission. Efforts were also made to secure assistance in this work through the appointment in each county of a county historian for war purposes. However, these efforts were not particularly successful, as resources and people were stressed throughout the war at the local level in North Carolina. Individuals willing to work as volunteer war record collectors were secured in sixty counties. These individuals promised to aid in the historical preservation work of the committee, but only a few of them had been active throughout World War I. Not much could be accomplished in terms of collecting war materials, however, due to a lack of funding and the lack of a law by the North Carolina State Legislature indicating a state-backed collection program. From 1917 to 1919, the State Legislature was not in session, and this scenario could not be remedied. However, in 1919 the State Legislature formally approved the North Carolina Historical Commission’s war records collection efforts with the passage of Chapter 144 of the North Carolina Public Laws and Resolutions (specifically Sections 3 and 4) in 1919. The new law empowered the Historical Commission to appoint a collector of World War records, and provided money for the project’s support. Acting under authority of this law, the Historical Commission chose Mr. Robert B. House Collector of World War Records, and House entered upon his work June 19, 1919. On taking up his duties, House found that the Historical Preservation committee of the State Council of Defense (through a system of volunteer collecting in various counties of the state), and Col. Fred A. Olds (North Carolina Historical Commission Hall of History Collector) had already collected a large amount of war materials. House tried to systemize the collection process